Potter with MS shapes a new life

From the intro to a feature on Larry Kruzan in The Peoria Journal Star in Illinois:

Ever a problem-solver, when life dealt him an unexpected hand, Larry Kruzan found an outlet in pottery.

Kruzan, 53, of rural Pekin opened Lost Creek Pottery in 2005 in a renovated railroad depot in downtown Manito. Since then, he has sold more than 28,000 pieces of pottery, each one a custom piece hand-made, glazed and fired in the bright, airy depot.

A love of art began in early childhood for Kruzan, who always liked to draw and paint.
"But my father wanted me to be an engineer, so in the end I did that," he said.

Kruzan joined the Army, where his work in civil and mechanical systems engineering took him around the world. He was working on a missile launcher in Germany in 1985 when he fell off, dropping 12 feet and becoming seriously injured when his back and hips were broken.

After two years of treatments and surgeries, Kruzan took a medical retirement from the Army. He used a wheelchair and found out soon after that he also had multiple sclerosis.

Kruzan and his wife moved to El Paso, Texas, after that, where they did mission work for seven years. But his health began deteriorating, and doctors told the couple he had only about two years to live.

Kruzan and his wife, Debbie, moved back to the Pekin area, and Kruzan's health improved. He said he hadn't realized the Texas heat was contributing to his problems.

Once his health improved, Kruzan started seeking an outlet for his creative energy.

"I was going nuts being retired," he said. "It was not my thing."

He began studying a longtime hobby, photography, at Bradley University. While pursuing an art degree, he took a pottery class for the first time in 2003.

"When I went into that pottery studio at Bradley, I felt all the chemistry, engineering and science I had worked in all my life coming together with the artistic side to make something," he said. "It was really special to find something that was physical that was emotionally fulfilling."